Delhi Capitals (DC) beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) by 6 wickets with 10 balls to spare in Match 11 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The win pushed Delhi to the second place on the points table, between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI). Punjab, on the other hand, languish at seventh place, above only Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
The star of the night was Shikhar Dhawan, whose 49-ball 92 helped him win the Orange Cap and the Player of the Match award as well as the match for Delhi. Dhawan paced his innings beautifully, initially taking a backseat when Prithvi Shaw (32 in 17) took on the Punjab bowlers in the Powerplay overs. Shaw played some incredible shots, including two sixes – over long-on, off Mohammed Shami, and over long-off, off Jhye Richardson.
By the time Shaw fell, in the sixth over, the damage had been done. By then, Dhawan had also opened up in a flurry of boundaries, including three in one over from Shami. He brought his fifty in thirty balls, reaching the landmark with a trademark swipe over square-leg off Richardson for six.
Steven Smith did not last, but Dhawan continued to torment the bowlers. He hit Shami for six and followed that with three consecutive fours off Riley Meredith. In the end, complacency left him four short of his hundred. He shuffled across to expose the wicket and sweep Richardson, missed the line, and was bowled.
But it did not matter. Neither did the cheap dismissal of Rishabh Pant. Marcus Stoinis (27* in 13 balls) and Lalit Yadav (12* in 6) finished the match in a hurry.
Earlier, Punjab piled up 195/4 – a score that might have been impressive on another ground but turned out to be inadequate at Wankhede. Mayank Agarwal (69 in 36 balls) led the charge, adding 122 for the opening stand with KL Rahul (61 in 51) off just 76 balls.
Mayank took on left-arm seamer Lukman Meriwala from the very onset. He cover-drove a no-ball for four, lofted the free hit for six, then ended the over with a delectable cover-drive for four. Meriwala found his rhythm later, but by then Mayank had already set off. A glorious six over long-off, off R Ashwin, was the pick of his shots. The fifty took him 25 balls.
Kagiso Rabada came on late in the innings. Mayank took on Rabada in the latter’s second over (11th of the innings), lofting him straight, then to the right of square-leg, for consecutive sixes. Taking cue, Rahul hooked Rabada for the third six of the over.
But Punjab lost their way once Meriwala had Mayank caught by Dhawan. Rahul played his shots but there were not enough of them. After going after the bowling in two matches, he switched back to the role of anchor, something he had adopted in 2020. He reached fifty in 45 balls, then hit Avesh Khan for a six and a four, and holed out to deep mid-wicket off Rabada. In the end it took some frantic hitting from Deepak Hooda (22* in 13) and Shahrukh Khan (15* in 5) for PBKS to reach a respectable total.
Brief scores
Punjab Kings 195/4 in 20 overs (Mayank Agarwal 69, KL Rahul 61; Lukman Meriwala 1-32) lost to Delhi Capitals 198/4 in 18.2 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 92; Jhye Richardson 2/41) by 6 wickets with 10 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Shikhar Dhawan.